LOOK: Mentally ill Shandong villager built this ramshackle seven-story castle by himself from scraps and dirt

In an impressive feat of patience and determination, a mentally ill 55-year-old villager from Linju county in Shandong has won the respect of people from across China after building his own personal seven-story tower, constructed over a period of 8 years from forgotten debris and dirt.Hu Guangzhou said that it took him five years to build the foundation and then another three years to build his home up to its current imposing and precarious level. To do all this, he primarily used dirt, scraps and stones. One time, during the building process, he fell from the second floor to the ground.This “humiliation” inspired him to add on an extra five stories, CCTV reports.It turns out that Hu is building the castle for his brothers, unfortunately, they have been dead for 10 years, according to The Epoch Times. Village officials have tried to explain the situation to Hu, but he refuses to be persuaded.Local officials have also attempted to move Hu to a home for the elderly, but he has refused and despite the unstable appearance of his tower, officials have declined to demolish it, though they have managed to get Hu to move elsewhere.We assume that they are just a bunch of old softies, but perhaps they also appreciate the unique aesthetic of Hu’s project, much like netizens who have compared the tower to something straight out of a Hayao Miyazaki film.By Kitty Lai[Images via CCTV // NetEase]